Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland

The Cleveland Public Library (CPL), established in 1869, is one of Ohio’s most prominent public library systems, boasting a collection that circulated 3.5 million items in 2020. It serves the community through its Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 27 neighborhood branches, a mobile library, and specialized services, including the Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled and the Public Administration Library at City Hall. In 2003, CPL was designated as the home of the Ohio Center for the Book, taking over from the State Library of Ohio.

The library began in 1811 as a small subscription service for Cleveland’s settlers, featuring rare titles like Don Quixote. It became a public library in 1869 with 5,800 books and introduced open shelves under its first librarian, Luther Oviatt. By 1898, it established one of the first children’s rooms in the U.S. In 1925, under Linda Anne Eastman’s leadership, the library moved into a Renaissance-style building designed by the noted firm Walker and Weeks. Renovated in the 1990s, it restored notable works, including Ora Coltman’s Dominance of the City mural from 1934.

In 1957, the library expanded by acquiring the six-story Plain Dealer Building on Superior Avenue, transforming it into a Business and Social Sciences Annex by 1959. This annex was later demolished to make way for the Louis Stokes Wing, a modern addition featuring fritted glass panels and Georgia marble. Dedicated in 1997, the Stokes Wing houses a vast collection of eight million items and two million titles.

The two Main Library buildings are seamlessly connected by an underground corridor beneath the tranquil Eastman Reading Garden, designed by the landscape architecture firm OLIN. The garden, adorned with sculptures by Maya Lin and Tom Otterness, serves as a serene space linking the past and present of this iconic institution.